Pillow case



A. J. GIONET Aug. 23, 1966 PILLOW CASE Filed April 9, 1964 FIGZ FIGI

FIG. 3

WU Mw, O @wp JMJ may? uw ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,267,496 PILLOW CASE Alex J. Gionet, 24 Melrose St., Boston, Mass. Fried Apr. 9, 1964, ser. No. 358,500 3 Claims. (Cl. 5-339) This invention relates to a new and improved pillow case construction and has as its primary object to provide a fitted pillow case which retain-s its fresh, smooth and neat appearance by preventing the pillow from shifting within the case.

Conventional pillow cases are nothing more than sleeves closed at one end and open at the other and are somewhat longer than the pillows which they are designed to cover. The pillows are free to move within the cases, and the cases could become wrinkled and generally unsightly after a single use. The cases do not confine the pillows to one location within them and the ticking often is exposed at the open end.

Another object of this invention is to provide a pillow case which will not expose the pillow ticking and which `will tend to maintain the pillow in a fluted condition.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a pillow case which will not readily wrinkle.

To accomplish these and other object-s the pillow case of this invention includes among its features a pair of panels joined together at their side and bottom edges generally in the form of a conventional case. Within the case a p-ocket is provided at the open end, which pocket is closed at the open end and open in the direction of the bottom or closed end of the case. This pocket receives and covers the end of the pillow at the o-pen end of the case and contines and covers that end of the pillow.

These and other objects of this invention will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a pillow case blank constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the blank shown in FIG. 1 but with certain parts of its construction completed;

FIG. 3 is a plan View of the completely constructed pillow case; and,

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the section line 4-4 of FIG. 3 and showing the manner in which a pillow tits within the case.

The pillow case of this invention is preferably made from a single sheet of material shaped as shown in FIG. 1. The material blank is composed of a pair of panels 12 and 14 and a ila-p 16. The panels 12 and 14 typically may each be about 20 wide and about 32" long. The flap 16 may be between 8 and 12 in length and is shown in FIG. 1 to have the same width as the panel 14, namely 20". It is to be understood that these dimensions are merely exemplary and the invention is in no way restricted to a case of the particular size described.

To make the completed pillow case from the blank shown in FIG. 1, the top of the blank is folded along the fold line 18 as suggested in FIG. 2, and the fold is stitched as shown at 20 in FIG. 2 to form a hem 22 across the tops of panels 12 and 14. When the top of the blank is folded along the line 18, the tlap 16 covers a portion of the inner face of panel 14.

A second row of stitching 24 parallel to the row 20 joins the flap 16 and the panel 14 adjacent the end of the flap near the fold 18. The row of stitching 24 may be disposed `an inch or two inwardly of the stitching 20 3,267,496 Patented August 23, 1966 ICC from the fold line 18 and may be spaced about 4 to 6 from the inner edge 26 of the flap. Further, the hem 22 along the top of the panels 12 and 14 may typically -be about 4" wide.

A third row of stitching 28 joins the left edge 30 of the flap to the panel 14 immediately adjacent the common side edge of the panels 12 and 14. The righ-t side edge 32 of the flap may also be joined to the panel 14 by a row of stitching 34 as suggested in PIG. 2. As an alternate method of construction the stitching 34 which joins the right edge 32 of the flap to the panel 14 may be introduced simultaneously with the row of stitching which joins the outer side edges of the panels 12 and 14 as described below.

When the ap is stitched as suggested at 24, 28 and 34, it forms a pocket 36 as is clearly shown in FIG. 4. The pocket 36 opens in the direction of the bottom edge 38 of the panel 14 and is closed in the direction of the top edge at the fold line 18. The sides of the pockets are also closed by the rows of stitching 28 and 34.

The next step in the manufacture of the pillo-w case is the folding of the blank along the fold line 41) which constitutes the common edge of the panels 12 and 14 so that the panels lie in face to face relationship with the flap 16 on the outside. Thereafter the bottom edge 38 of the panel 14 is stitched to the bottom edge 42 of the panel 12, and the outside edges 44 and 46 of the panels 12 and 14 respectively are stitched together, all by a seam 48 as shown in FIG. 3, and then the case is turned right side out. It is evident that the seam 48 joining the side edges 44 and 46 of the panels 12 and 14 may also serve to join the side 32 ofthe flap 16 to the side of the panel 14. The use of a separate seam 34 or the seam 48 to accomplish this purpose is within the scope of the present invention.

The completed pillow case is shown in FIG. 4 with a pillow 50 suggested in broken lines within it. It is evident in FIG. 4 that the pillow is inserted into the case by introducing it through the open end or top of the case at the fold line 18 and pushing the pillow inwardly beyond the inner edge 26 of the flap. When a pillow is beyond the inner edge 26 it may then be released so that it expands within the pocket 36 defined by the flap 16 and the panel 14. The ap 16 should be long enough to completely enclose the upper end of the pillow but should not be so long as to make it very diiiicult to manipulate the pillow beyond its edge 26. It is also evident from FIG. 4 that when the pillow is inserted in the case, the entire cover or ticking of the pillow is enclosed within the case and out o-f sight. The pocket 36 contines the outer edge of the pillow within the case so that it may not slide toward the open end of the case. Further, by selecting suitable dimensions for the case so that the pillow ts snugly within it, the case will not readily wrinkle. Rather, the case will always have a smooth and fresh appearance. It will also be noted with reference to FIG. 4, that because the limit of the pocket is within the hem 22, the case will close normally; that is, the opposite hems on the panels 12 and 14 will lie against each other so that the case will not appear overstuifed or too small for the pillow.

While in the foregoing description it is suggested that the panels 12, 14 an-d 16 may be formed as a unitary structure from a single blank as shown in FIG. 1, it is to be understood that it is within the sco-pe of this invention to have the flap 16 fabricated as a separate part and stitched to the panel 14 by the rows of stitching 24, 28 and 32. It i-s also within the scope of this invention that the panels 12 and 14 have a common bottom edge (42 and 38) rather than a common side edge so that the flap 16 and the panels 12 and 14 form a long and narrow blank in end to end relationship.

Having described this invention in detail, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications may be made of this invention without departing from its spirit. Therefore, it is not intended to limi-t the breadth of this invention to the single embodiment illustrated. Rather, it is intended that the scope of this invention be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What I claim is:

1. A pillow case comprising `front and rear rectangular panels of equal length e- Cured together along each side edge and along the bottom,

a hem sewn along the open top edge of each of the panels,

and a flap sewn to one of the panels inwardly of the hem by a first seam parallel to the open end, and

i second and third seams at the side edges of said one of the panels, whereby said flap for-ms a pocket opening toward the bottom of the panels and spaced from the open end.

2. A pillow case as dened in cla-im 1 further charaeter-ized by said flap being integral with said one panel.

3. A pillow ease comprising a generally rectangular sheet of fabric composed of two panels integrally woven so as to have a common side edge,

a tlap forming part of said sheet and extending from the top of one of the panels,

a fold in the sheet along the tops of the panels and parallel to the top edges of the panels and placing the ap in face to face Contact with said one panel,

a seam sewn through the fold to form a hem along said tops of the panels,

a second seam sewn parallel to the top edge of said one of the panels and joining the flap and said one panel together,

a third seam joining the side of the flap at the common side edge of the panels,

a second fold in the sheet along said co-mmon side edge placing the two panels in face to face relationship with the Hap disposed between the two panels,

and a fourth seam joining the other side edges and the bottom edges of the two panels together.

7/1957 Canada. 6/1957 Great Britain.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Examiner.

A. M. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner'. 

1. A PILLOW CASE COMPRISING FRONT AND REAR RECTANGULAR PANELS OF EQUAL LENGTH SECURED TOGETHER ALONG EACH SIDE EDGE AND ALONG THE BOTTOM, A HEM SEWN ALONG THE OPEN TOP EDGE OF EACH OF THE PANELS, AND A FLAP SEWN TO ONE OF THE PANELS INWARDLY OF THE HEM BY A FIRST SEAM PARALLEL TO THE OPEN END, AND SECOND AND THIRD SEAMS AT THE SIDE EDGES OF SAID ONE OF THE PANELS, WHEREBY SAID FLAP FORMS A POCKET OPENING TOWARD THE BOTTOM OF THE PANELS AND SPACED FROM THE OPEN END. 